The Dangers Of The Black Forest

As Yuma opened a way for them to enter he said,

"I have forty-five minutes at maximum. So please try to be quick."

They both nodded and slowly entered the Black Forest.

It was different at first, but something annoyed Caitrin. When they entered the Black Forest, Caitrin's expression changed and she started to feel so different. She didn't know if it was because of the atmosphere of the Black Forest, but she still didn't care and continued.

And although they could see in front of them in the Black Forest, for some reason there was very little light entering. It gave them the feeling as if they were in a huge house. Vines have also covered the trees and there were small ponds in the ground. But apart from these, there were magical plants and magical creatures that revealed the beauty of the forest.

Caitrin looked around amazed as they walked and said,

"This place looks really creepy and mysterious. Now I understand why people don't want to come in here."

But as she was hooked up with the forest's features, Orano had pulled his compass and was trying to use it on the Black Forest. But no matter how much he tried to use it, his compass didn't work. It only turned randomly as if something had broken it, and didn't show a specific location either.

He looked at his compass confused and said,

"This is really weird. Yuma had added a feature so that it would not be affected by a power source. But it looks like it doesn't work here."

"What does that mean?"

"That means there's more to this than just a power source. And we'd better be careful."

Caitrin looked at him with a nervous and sarcastic expression and said,

"You know something bad happens to us every time you say that,  right?"

And at that very moment, she said that they heard a sound from the bushes. Caitrin got scared and stepped back and Orano slowly leaned towards his sword. They both felt something was coming. 

And it was getting closer by the second.

Then when it finally came out, it was something they didn't expect. Because it was something that was harmless.

It was a cute little slime that was hopping around.

Caitrin took a deep breath and said sarcastically,

"I have almost lost myself there."

She then added,

"But what are these creatures? They don't look dangerous."

"These are creatures called "Slime". They are usually the size of a human body and shaped like a sphere. They do not harm people, but they can eat crops and damage fields. This is also their way of feeding themselves."

As they were talking, one of the Slimes approached Caitrin and hopped into her arms. Its small size and cute face made it even cuter for Caitrin. So she carried it a little bit and said,

"So there are harmless and cute creatures like this, huh? The world is really full of different and surprising things."

Then Orano looked at her and said,

"Come on, let's go. I think I saw a path up ahead."

Caitrin slowly put the creature on the ground and caught up to him. 

And after walking for a couple of minutes, they finally reached a crossroad. 

There were two separate roads and they both lead to other places. And that made them ambivalent about where to go.

But Orano looked at Caitrin said,

"I'll go on the right. You go left. If anything happens, we'll meet back here."

"But the man back there said it was too dangerous to even be here. What if we fall into a trap and something happens to us?" Caitrin replied as she slowly got more nervous.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do. If we don't split up, we'll lose time and we won't get any results. So if you find anything, let's meet back here."

Caitrin was about to say something, but she gave up and nodded.

After that, they both got separated and headed their own ways.

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The path Caitrin took was darker than where they had been before. And although there were no signs of living things around, it looked pretty scary.

Caitrin then looked around nervously and said,

"What would have happened if we hadn't crossed a dangerous road for once? It is really annoying at this point."

There were a ton of things around that could distract Caitrin. Including Magical mushrooms, different kinds of fruit hanging from trees, and, of course, vines that looked poisonous. But what intrigued Caitrin most was a glowing plant somewhere around the corner.

It was a blueberry tree and it shone brightly blue.

At first, Caitrin only examined it by crouching near it. 

She said to herself,

*Of course, it would be ridiculous for me to eat from a place like the Black Forest. I don't even know what dangers or side effects it's hiding inside of it.*

So she kept walking and made her way deeper into the forest.

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On the other hand, Orano was still walking and trying to figure out where the Rift was. But since it was very difficult to see around and his compass didn't work at all, he had to find his way by looking and walking around in different places.

The area in which he was found was brighter compared to Caitrin, and he could easily see the surrounding area. But the problem was that the path he followed was quite complicated and he had trouble finding his way.

And as he walked through the forest he said to himself,

*There's no clue neither no trace of something. If I keep moving like this, I won't find anything.*

After that, he got up and started walking once more. He slowly looked around and tried to find some evidence that will lead him to the Rift.

And finally, after walking for a couple of minutes, he reached an important place in the forest.

There was a giant tree in front of him that looked like the center of the forest. But this tree was not like a normal tree. The thick and long thorny vines in front of it protected it from any danger and did not allow any creatures or living beings to enter. That is why the other side of the Black Forest became very hard to reach.  

But Tatsumi didn't stop anyway, he just pulled his sword and began to cut the vines one by one. And after cutting them for a while, he finally managed to get to the other side of the tree and started walking again.